Coin collector apparatus



Feb. 22, 1944. J. M. ME LICK COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS lNl/ENTOR By J. MMEL ICK A T TORNE'V Feb. 22, 1944. MELICK 4 2,342,593

COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS Filed May 22, 1941 5. Sheets-Sheet 2 3 M F/G.4 26 425 54 23 E'JJ 15" /7 FIG .5 I F IG g 26 254/ 24 2 3 I1 1 34 2 24 l5 I6 I 45 3/ 44 45 44 46 47 f 42 38 32 l8 8 g I 22 I e I! INVENTOR JMMEL/CK ATTORNEY Feb. 22, 1944. J MEUCK 2,342,593

COIN COLLECTOR APPARATUS Filed May 22, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A T TORNE V Patented Feb. 22, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5' Claims.

This invention relates to coin collector apparatus particularly for use at telephone pay stations and has for an object the provision of an improved arrangement for collecting or refunding coins deposited in payment for the use of the instrument.

As disclosed in the 0. F. Forsberg United States Patent 1,043,219, issued November 5, 1912-, it is customary in a collector station of the prepay type to direct the deposited coins into a coin hop-' per where the first deposited coin actuates a coin trigger to an advanced position to close certain electrical contacts for the purpose of signaling the central ofiice of coin deposit and for preparing an energizing circuit for the associated coin relay. The coins after passing the coin trigger come to rest on a pivoted coin trap where they are held until voltage is applied to the relay which upon operating serves to release the coin trap and direct the suspended coins into a collect or refund chute. The operation of the coin relay also serves to restore the coin trigger to normal so that when the relay is deen'ergized to permit the coin trap to be returned to its normal coin supporting position the electrical contacts are opened to break the energizing circuit for the relay.

From the above description it will be apparent that under certain conditions the operating voltage may be applied to the relay for such a short time that the relay maybe d'eenergizedbefore the coin trap has moved to coin discharging position; and upon the deenergization of the relay its energizing circuit is broken so-that' the failure to col-- lect the coins cannot be corrected by the central ofiice operator.

In accordance with this invention the energizing circuit for the coin relay is not broken until the coin trap has dropped. to coin discharging position whereby if the first energization of the relay fails to permit coin discharge the central oifice operator Will receive an indication of the trouble and may reapply collect current to the relay for the time necessary to secure coin collection. This resultmay be advantageously achieved by placing coin trigger restoral under the control of the coin trap whereby the trigger will beretained in its contact closingv position until the cointrap has reached its coin. discharging position.

The mannerin which this may beaccomplished will be better understood by reference to the-iotlowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. i is a side view of the central portion of a coin collector embodying this invention;

Fig. 2' is a view in perspectiveof the coin hopper and associated coin relay showing "all parts in their normal positions; v

Fig. 3 is a side view, and Fig. 4 is a front view of the apparatus of Fig. 2 after coin deposit but before the coin relay has been operated;

Figs. 5 and 6 are similar to Figs. 3 and 4, respectively, except that the relay is shown operated, but with the coin trap'still in normal coin supporting position; and

Figs; 7 and8 are similar to Figs. 5 and 6, respectively, except that the coin trap is shown in its coin discharging position.

Fig. 1 discloses the central portion of a tele phone coin. collector of the general. type disclosed in the O. F. Forsberg United States Patent 1,043,- 219; Within the upper housing [0 is a multiple coin chute N for receiving deposited coins of various denominations and for directing them intoa coin hopper IZ where the coins are temporarily held on a coin trap 13 after the first deposited coin has actuated the usual coin trigger M to close electrical spring contacts #5, IE to notify the central oiiiceof coin deposit and to prepare an energizing circuit for the windings of coin relay 11. At the proper time equipment at the central offi'ce may be operated toapply collect or refund current to relay IT which by means of itsv armature extension I8 rotates coinvane I9 to permit coin trap l3 to" drop under the Weightof its coin load and discharge its coin intocollect chute 20 or refund chute 21 as the case may be, whereupon the counterweight 22 serves to restore thecoin trap'to its normal position in which it is supported by vane I9 after the relay has been deenergize'd.

The present invention is primarily concerned with'the provision of means for placing. the spring contacts I5, 16 under the control of the coin trap i3 in such-a manner that contacts |-5,. l6 after being;- closed' by the actuation of coin trigger it cannot be reopened. until after coin" trap l3 has moved to a coin discharging position. Otherwise the apparatus disclosed in the various figures: is not substantially difierentfrom the disclosure of the Forsberg' patent.

It will benoted that pivoted about a pinrZB' is a lever 24- which has a laterally extending arm 2'5-normally resting. on shoulder 26 of cointrigg'er I4. Lev-er 24 also has a downwardly extending arm" 31' engaged by a spring 32- which is biased to" move lever arm 31' to engage spring contact as I5 and cause the closure ofconta'cts [5, I6; but

arm 3| is normally prevented from so doing because of the engagement of lever arm 25 with trigger shoulder 26.

Coin trigger shoulder 26 also supports a slidable member 33 which has a lateral arm 34 resting on top of shoulder 26 while the lug 35 on the lower end of member 33 normally lies a short distanceabove the counterweight 22 of the coin trap. As shown particularly in Figs. 4 and 6, member 33 contains two elongated slots 36, 3'! embracing stationary pins 38, 39 to guide member 33 in its upward and downward movement with member 33 being held in its upper position solely by means of trigger shoulder 26,

When a deposited coin reaches, the coin hopper the coin trigger I4 is actuated from its normal position of Fig. 2 to its advanced position of Figs. 3 and 4 whereby trigger shoulder 26 is moved counter-clockwise (Fig. 3) a distance sufficient to release the slidable member 33 and the springpressed lever arm 25. Spring 32 is now free to move lever arm 3| to the position shown in Fig. 4 to cause the closure of contacts |5, I6 while member 33 is free to drop downwardly under the influence of gravity until its lower end 35 either rests on trap counterweight 22 or lies a short distance above it. From the position of the various parts in Fig. 3 it will be seen that arms 25 and 34 have dropped downwardly to lie in the return path of trigger shoulder 26 so that the trigger counterweight 4| is thereby prevented from restoring the coin trigger to its normal position of Fig. 2; and hence the coin trigger will be held in its operated position as long as either of the arms 25, 34 lies in its position of Fig. 3.

As described in the above-mentioned Forsberg patent the closure of contacts |5, |6 serves to prepare an energizing circuit through the windings of the polarized relay l1 whereby at the proper time either collect current or refund current may be applied to the relay to cause the collection or refund of the coins on the coin trap l3. The relay armature 42 has an extension |8 linked with the pivoted coin vane |9 which normally lies in a vertical position holding the coin trap I3 in its coin supporting position.

Assuming that refund current is applied to the relay for an appreciable time interval the relay armature 42 and its extension l8 will be operated to their positions of Figs. 7 and 8 whereby the coin vane l9 will be moved to the right to close the collect chute 20 and release the coin trap l3 to permit the coin trap under the influence of gravity to drop downwardly to its coin discharging position of Fig. 8 whereby the deposited coin such as coin 43 will be free to drop into refund chute 2|.

Armature 42 also has an extension 44 carrying a pin 45 which normally lies between the bowedout portions 46, 41 of lever arm 3| and electrical spring contact I; but when the relay is energized this pin rides out of the bowed-out portions to move lever arm 3| clockwise as seen in Fig. 8, while also exerting pressure on spring contact l5 to maintain contacts |5, |6 closed. This clockwise movement of lever-arm 3| obviously elevates lever arm 25 to a position above the return path of trigger shoulder 26. -Also assuming that the coin trap I3 drops to its coin discharging position of Fig. 8 after being-released from coin vane I9, this movement of the coin trap in raising its counterweight 22 obviously raises slidable member 33a distance sufficient to permit its upper arm 34 to free the trigger shoulder 26. Hence with both arms 34, 25 in their elevated positions of Figs. 7 and 8 the trigger counterweight ll is free to restore coin trigger [4 to normal. Thereafter and with the deenergizetion of relay |l, armature 42 and its extensions will be restored to normal with coin trap l3 in a substantially horizontal position supported by vane l9 and with armature pin 45 again lying between bowed-out portions 46, 41 whereby lever arm 25 again engages the top edge of trigger shoulder 26 and with lever arm 3| holding spring 32 in a position permitting contacts |5, I6 to open. It will also be apparent that th restoration of coin trap l3 to normal lowers its counterweight 22 from the elevated position of Fig. '7 to its normal position of Fig. 2, thereby allowing'slidable member 33 to drop downwardly un-- der the influence of gravity until its lateral arm 36 again is supported by th top edge of trigger shoulder 26.

The above description of the operation of the coin relay is based on the assumption that the energization of the relay is prolonged for a time suflicient to permit coin trap l3 to discharge its coins-before the relay isdeenergized. However, the present invention is of particular importance in the case where non-standard conditions prevail such as would be the case if a lightweight coin was on the coin trap with the coin trap somewhat sluggish in its operation and the energizing current applied to the relay for such a short interval of time that the relay was deenergized and vane l9 restored to normal before the trap |3 had moved downwardly sufliciently far to permit coin discharge.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the relay is shown operated as in Fig. 8 but in Figs. 5 and 6 it is assumed that after operation the relay will be deenergized before trap l3 has had time to discharge its coin load. Hence in Figs. 5 and 6 the coin trap I3 is shown in its horizontal position even though supporting vane l9 has been temporarily removed. It will be noted in Fig, 5 that lever arm 25 has been elevated out of the path of trigger shoulder 26 but arm 34 of slidable member 33 still occupies a position obstructing the return of the coin trigger to normal due to the failure of the coin trap counterweight 22 to raise member 33 as in Fig. 7 or 8. Hence, with the coin relay deenergized before the coin trap |3 has discharged its coin load it will be obvious that coin trigger M will remain in its coin actuated position of Fig. 3 or 5 because its return is obstructed by arm 34. This, therefore, means that when relay H is energized under the assumed conditions for Fig. 5 lever arm 25 will not be supported by trigger shoulder 26 when the relay is deenergized and hence spring 32 will be free to maintain contacts 5, 6 closed. The closed condition of contacts |5, I6 will call the attention of the central ofiice operator to the abnormal conditions existing at the coin substation and will permit the operator again to apply refund or collect current as the case may be, to relay ll for an adequate time interval to permit trap I3 to reach coin discharging position, in which event the operation of the device is similar to that described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8. If, due to some abnormal condition, the trap l3 still fails to reach coin discharging position, the continued failure of contacts |5, |6 to open will serve as an immediate notice to the operator that the coin substation requires servicing to remove the cause of the trouble.

What is claimed is:

1. In a coin collector, an electrical relay, a coin channel for receiving deposited coins, a pivoted coin trap in said channel, means for normally holding said trap in coin supporting position, a pivoted coin trigger projecting into said channel above said trap and biased to a normal position but adapted to be actuated to an advanced position by a deposited coin, normally open contacts in the actuating circuit of said relay, said trigger when actuated to the advanced position adapted to close said normally open contacts, means for latching said trigger in said advanced position, means controlled by said relay for releasing said trap from said holding means to permit said trap to drop to coin discharging position and means actuated by said trap in moving to said coin discharging position for releasing said trigger from said latching means.

2. In a coin collector, an electrical relay, a coin channel for receiving deposited coins, a pivoted coin trap in said channel biased to a coin obstructing position but adapted to drop to a coin discharging position, a pivoted coin trigger projecting into said channel above said trap and. biased to a normal position but adapted to be actuated to an advanced position by a deposited coin, normally open contacts in the actuating circuit of said relay, said trigger when actuated to the advanced position adapted to close said normally open contacts, means for latching said trigger in said advanced position, means controlled by said relay for directing said trap to said coin discharging position, and means actuated by said trap in its movement to coin discharging position for rendering said latching means ineffective.

3. In a coin collector, an electrical relay, a coin channel for receiving deposited coins, a pivoted coin trap in said channel biased to a coin supporting position but adapted to drop to a coin discharging position under the weight of a deposited coin, means for normally holding said trap in coin supporting position, means controlled by said relay for releasing said trap to permit said trap to drop to a coin discharging position, a pivoted coin trigger projecting into said channel above said trap and biased to a normal position but adapted to be actuated to an advanced position by a deposited coin, normally open contacts in the actuating circuit of said relay, said trigger when actuated to the advanced position adapted to close said normally open contacts, a shoulder on said trigger, a slidable member normally held in an elevated position by said shoulder but adapted with the coin actuation of said trigger to drop to a lowered position, latching said trigger in said advanced position, and means on said trap effective in the movement of said trap to coin discharging position for engaging said member to elevate said member to a position permitting said trigger to be restored to normal.

4. In a coin collector, an electrical relay, a coin hopper for receiving deposited coins, a pivoted coin trap in said hopper biased to a coin obstructing position but adapted to drop to a coin discharging position, a pivoted coin trigger projecting into said hopper above said trap and biased to a normal position but adapted to be actuated by a deposited coin to an advanced position, normally open contacts in the actuating circuit of said relay, said trigger when actuated to the advanced position adapted to close said normally open contacts, means for latching said trigger in said advanced position, means controlled by said relay for directing said trap to said coin discharging position, and means engaged by said trap in its movement to coin discharging position for moving said latching means to trigger releasing position.

5. In a coin collector, a coin channel for receiving deposited coins, a pivoted coin trap in said channel biased to a coin supporting position but adapted to drop to a coin discharging position under the weight of a deposited coin, means for holding said trap in said coin supporting position, a pivoted coin trigger projecting into said channel above said trap and biased to a normal position but adapted to be actuated to an advanced position by a deposited coin, means for latching said trigger in said advanced position, and means actuated by said trap in its movement to coin discharging position for rendering said latching means ineflective.

JOHN M. MELICK. 

